Sitting in an office surrounded by a doghouse-shaped cremation urn, a bone-shaped bronze memorial marker and a grief therapy brochure offering tips on disposing of a dead pet’s “belongings,” Alex Neff unsuccessfully fights back a grin. For a fleeting second, he looks like the cat who swallowed the canary–rather fitting…
Skinhead gangs are notorious for their black boots, racial prejudices and, of course, shaved scalps. But Kevin Hauschild says he got involved in Phoenix United Skinheads (PUSH) because they were different. “Yeah, we dressed like skinheads and everything,” Hauschild says, “but what we were trying to do was educate other…
The life of a man running for governor is no longer a thing to call his own. Running the race for the state’s top office is in equal parts grueling, repetitive and unnerving. And if a candidate visits enough places and makes enough speeches, he will one day run up…
This all started more than a year ago when a burglar broke in through a side door of the house and made off with Christina The Lawyer’s purse. Before she got hold of her senses, Christina The Lawyer, a dedicated jogger and physical culturist, attempted to run the intruder down…
The Salt River will not be tested for the deadly bacteria that destroyed the leg of a Phoenix man earlier this summer–despite earlier promises that tests would be done if other victims were found. And there is another victim, New Times has discovered. A 31-year-old Mesa woman spent two weeks…
“We pulled it, we checked it, we put it back.” And with that, a Bashas’ employee provided the final word on last week’s biggest bone of contention–a crackpot controversy over whether the videocassette packaging for Disney’s The Little Mermaid bore the image of a penis. Last Thursday, the supermarket chain…
Back in the days before the Federal Bureau of Investigation started snooping around, a lot of people remember that Tom Connelly and Bill Reeves were pretty good friends. The two met quite by chance four years ago, right after Connelly hired on as a criminal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s…
Do female food servers have any business working in a fine-dining establishment? When a reporter from a national food-service magazine posed this thorny question to Chicago restaurateur Nick Nicholas five years ago, few words were minced. “Broads are a pain in the ass to work with,” proclaimed the outspoken restaurant…
You’re Bob Barnes, and by now running for governor of Arizona has taken over your life. For you, it has become an obsession. You are running dead last in the polls but have become so taken over by your dream you no longer remember a time in your life when…
Sam Steiger made the switch from Libertarian to Republican, and he wants the rest of Arizona Libertarians to do the same. Although the fiery gubernatorial hopeful has moderated some of his traditional Libertarian positions since his race for governor under the party banner in 1982–including backing away from support of…
If you haven’t bought Phoenix Cardinals season tickets, you might not want to bother, local sports analysts are gossiping. But local sports fans seem to know that already. Fans are passing on season tickets despite lower prices and a major advertising campaign to boost sales. According to the Cardinals front…
The yellow caution flag is out. The Phoenix Grand Prix, considered by city officials to be their best ticket to drawing national and international tourists and development, may be heading into its last laps, New Times has learned. City officials are back at the bargaining table, telling race promoter Bernie…
“Ric Rankins did not die in vain,” the speaker shouted last Sunday night. “His death has created a new spirit in this community.” The crowd packed into the low-ceilinged meeting hall of the church on Broadway and 19th Street cheered. Seated in the front row were black political leaders state…
The dark clouds appeared suddenly from the north last Saturday night. The winds, gusting to sixty miles per hour, followed soon after. Through the gathering darkness, I could see the wind whipping the long limbs of the three ancient Chinese elm trees at the back of our house. They kept…
The coroner’s report said it all; Ric Rankins’ death on July 10 was a “homicide.” A scrawny 144 pounds, Rankins had his voice box crushed by a choke hold. Unnamed employees of Smitty’s grocery chain killed the 43-year-old black man in a west-side parking lot. Three days later, the Arizona…
Nelson Mandela may not be welcome to visit the Navajo Reservation because he is a “Communist.” On the other hand, the black South African leader may be embraced with open arms as a respected civil rights leader. It all depends on which of the leading candidates for tribal president is…
Cable television is coming to the Westward Ho. A tentative deal has been reached with Dimension Cable that’s leaving smiles on the faces of the 300-odd residents who live in the once-ritzy downtown hotel that’s been converted into a government-subsidized home for the aged and infirmed. As New Times first…
For a while there, you could scarcely pick up a magazine without seeing Lloyd Cole hawking high-priced liqueur in his series of “Amaretto di Cole” ads. One of the recent slick endorsements was set against a neon-lighted New York backdrop and had the singer-guitarist brooding into a cigarette while slumped…
State environmental officials, whose current tests of the popular Salt River tubing area can’t detect a deadly bacteria that cost a young Phoenix man his leg, say they plan new tests this summer to seek out the bacteria. First, officials say, they will try to determine if it was an…
The contents of the letter left George Coppock trembling with fear and anger. “We have received a report that Michael has possibly been abused,” the curt note from the Arizona Department of Economic Security started. Coppock recalls feeling helpless when he read those words three years ago. “Here you are…
The Arizona Supreme Court now tells us that Evan Mecham is once again free to become our governor. How ridiculous can you get? I always presumed that judges were appointed to the Supreme Court because they were strong and independent enough to make an unpopular decision when called upon. I…
Earlier that evening, J. Fife Symington III went on television. He seemed superbly confident as he quipped that Evan Mecham was like a schoolyard bully who needed a punch in the nose. Leon Woodward, one of Mecham’s staunchest supporters, was startled by Symington’s boast. Woodward picked up his phone a…
